Talislanta: The Savage Lands is out for playtest

Talislanta: The Savage Lands is out for playtest

Just figured people would be interested to know that work on Talislanta: The Savage Lands continues. The playtest files have been distributed to the playtest team.

Re: Talislanta: The Savage Lands is out for playtest

Posted: Sat Jul 16, 2016 3:27 pm

by Draig-Athar

That's great news, thank you for sharing!

Re: Talislanta: The Savage Lands is out for playtest

Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2016 10:51 am

by Big Mac

Imaginos wrote:Just figured people would be interested to know that work on Talislanta: The Savage Lands continues. The playtest files have been distributed to the playtest team.

Thanks for the update.

I was waiting to see something about this on Kickstarter. Have they funded this from the comic Kickstarter or another method?

Is there an official press release anywhere?

Re: Talislanta: The Savage Lands is out for playtest

Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2016 5:30 am

by Tim Baker

I'd never heard of Talislanta until now. I'd be interested to learn more about the setting and the upcoming edition, if you're able to share.

Re: Talislanta: The Savage Lands is out for playtest

Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2016 2:54 pm

by Imaginos

Big Mac wrote:

Imaginos wrote:Just figured people would be interested to know that work on Talislanta: The Savage Lands continues. The playtest files have been distributed to the playtest team.

Thanks for the update.

I was waiting to see something about this on Kickstarter. Have they funded this from the comic Kickstarter or another method?

Is there an official press release anywhere?

I'd say your best source of information at this time is the Talislanta facebook group. That is where the call for playtesters went out and where most updates have been made.

The RPG has not been funded by anything yet. There will be a separate kickstarter to fund it when it nears completion. From my understanding, they want it mostly done before kickstarting.

BTW, I'm one of the playtesters, not anybody tied to the production of the game.

Re: Talislanta: The Savage Lands is out for playtest

Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2016 3:03 pm

by Imaginos

Tim Baker wrote:I'd never heard of Talislanta until now. I'd be interested to learn more about the setting and the upcoming edition, if you're able to share.

Talislanta is one of my favorite settings. Something about the art of P.D. Breeding-Black back in the 1st/2nd edition days of it captured my eye and I've loved it since. Not to slight any of the other artists, because there have been a lot of really talented artists involved in the game (I realize you didn't ask that part, but that's what caught me first).

My first exposure to Talislanta was the 2nd edition handbook, with a Thrall Warrior on the cover (waist-up picture), covered entirely in colorful tattoos, holding his greatsword in front of him.

The previous editions Talislanta is a fantasy setting long after a magical apocalypse. The tag-line was "No elves", though many folks like to point out that there are elf stand-ins. It is not your standard fantasy though. Despite the elven stand-ins, most of the races are not the typical fantasy options. And character balance is not something that occurs based on the races. Balance is something that really has to be managed by the GM in running the adventures.

The next edition, Talislanta The Savage Lands, is set much closer to the apocalypse. Reading through the races, you can see some of the future races in the ones presented. It is a very interesting direction for someone who has enjoyed the setting for decades. I don't have time to discuss much more right now, but will try to give more as I have time.

If you are interested in checking the earlier editions out, take a look at www.talislanta.com. All of the previous editions are available as free PDFs there. Something very cool that the creator, Steven Sechi, gave his full blessing on.

Re: Talislanta: The Savage Lands is out for playtest

Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2016 9:36 pm

by Tim Baker

Thanks, Imaginos. That's very helpful. I really like that the earlier editions are offered for free. That makes it easy for me to check them out.

Re: Talislanta: The Savage Lands is out for playtest

Posted: Fri Jul 29, 2016 12:35 am

by Big Mac

Imaginos wrote:I'd say your best source of information at this time is the Talislanta facebook group. That is where the call for playtesters went out and where most updates have been made.

I'm a member of that group, but I've been busier than I used to be and have had less time to go there. I'll have to try to get back soon.

Imaginos wrote:The RPG has not been funded by anything yet. There will be a separate kickstarter to fund it when it nears completion. From my understanding, they want it mostly done before kickstarting.

That's a good idea. If it is mostly finished, that should help prevent delays.

Imaginos wrote:BTW, I'm one of the playtesters, not anybody tied to the production of the game.

Playtesters, like you, are important.

Re: Talislanta: The Savage Lands is out for playtest

Posted: Wed Feb 22, 2017 1:14 pm

by writermonk

Imaginos wrote:BTW, I'm one of the playtesters, not anybody tied to the production of the game.

As one of the writers and head editor for the early draft, I'm interested in your ideas/feelings about how the setting stuff in the playtest. I realize it has gone through a couple of edits since my team and I handed it off, but its neat to see how some things translate out. Especially since we had some notes about the direction/scope of things that were explicitly not included in the text.

Re: Talislanta: The Savage Lands is out for playtest

Posted: Thu Jan 04, 2018 7:10 am

by Big Mac

writermonk wrote:

Imaginos wrote:BTW, I'm one of the playtesters, not anybody tied to the production of the game.

As one of the writers and head editor for the early draft, I'm interested in your ideas/feelings about how the setting stuff in the playtest. I realize it has gone through a couple of edits since my team and I handed it off, but its neat to see how some things translate out. Especially since we had some notes about the direction/scope of things that were explicitly not included in the text.

Notes that were "explicitly not included in the text"? That sounds intersting. Was that something designed for playtesting, that you removed in order to give gamesmasters something to add themselves?

Re: Talislanta: The Savage Lands is out for playtest

Notes that were "explicitly not included in the text"? That sounds intersting. Was that something designed for playtesting, that you removed in order to give gamesmasters something to add themselves?

SMS had some overarching ideas for what was going on. Basically answers to mysteries and such. So, those kinds of answers weren't included as things in the text itself, though there are probably enough clues there for folks to piece things together and, if not arriving at the exact answer he had in mind, at least getting really close.

Re: Talislanta: The Savage Lands is out for playtest

Notes that were "explicitly not included in the text"? That sounds intersting. Was that something designed for playtesting, that you removed in order to give gamesmasters something to add themselves?

SMS had some overarching ideas for what was going on. Basically answers to mysteries and such. So, those kinds of answers weren't included as things in the text itself, though there are probably enough clues there for folks to piece things together and, if not arriving at the exact answer he had in mind, at least getting really close.

Ah. Gotcha! You don't want to paint a GM into the corner with answers and stuff.

Re: Talislanta: The Savage Lands is out for playtest

Posted: Mon May 21, 2018 5:56 pm

by writermonk

Right. Mysteries good (they're sort of like big plot hooks). And while some answers are good (especially after so many editions), you don't want to answer everything and remove the wonder.